USPS 10,000 Workers to be Cut

[stuff4divas]

in the next 30 days, what affect, if any, do u think it'll have

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/usps-signs-agreement-doge-agrees-cut-10000-workers-broken-business-...

[the-hook-and-the-loop]

I ship about 1,000 packages per month with USPS, and haven't had too many issues, until February 2025. Now I have pieces going missing or traveling around the country taking 3 weeks to finally get delivered.

[house*of*paws · Accepted solution]

Hey @stuff4divas 

We’ve never been in a situation like this before … not knowing whether the people in charge have any inkling (or concern) about the consequences of their decisions.  We can only watch and see … and maybe pray.  

[gloryglorygifts]

Well, they are advertising for jobs here in Brooklyn, NYC, so I guess it depends on where you live if the cuts will affect you or not. 

[slippinjimmy]

That would depend on which employees they that get rid of. Following the Doge strategy it will be low level / new hires that they can fire without running into union issues or offering buyout to those that are retiring in the near future.

With over 640,000 employees (2023) I'm not sure there will be any serious effects losing 10,000. On the other hand, if they eliminate 10,000 critical positions (like the people who maintain the sorting equipment etc) there definitely could be issues.

USPS operates over 10,000 properties (from local post offices to major sorting facilities) they could cut one person from the cleaning staff at each which would likely have no real affect at all.

As always, the devil is in the details.

[meme6253]

This can have very serious affect's even catastrophic, Not just here but for all shipping without an effective plan in place.

[soh.maryl]

That traveling around the country thing has gone on for quite awhile.

I have packages that have many more frequent flyer miles than I do.  

[fbusoni]

@stuff4divas 

These 10,000 postal workers are taking early retirement.

In other words, they are leaving voluntarily.

This is NOT a punitive move aimed at USPS or by USPS against its own workers.

Early retirement is a form of attrition, which is actually a sensible way of downsizing, because it allows for a planned restructuring / reorganization.

During my 40 years with the USG, attrition happened every week... people retired and often they were not replaced, depending on circumstances.

Miraculously, the work still got done.   😁

And it will still get done by USPS.

[adamcartwright]

Do you really believe what you're saying -- that the people in charge have no inkling or concern for the consequences of cutting less than 2% of employees from the USPS?

I see people complaining here about the USPS service on a daily basis.

Anyone who's ever worked a job knows that eliminating the slackers is a good thing and increases productivity all the way around. 

Of course, we'll have to wait and see, but how does this "sky is falling" mentality benefit anyone? 

[quikdropflstu]

Well have been nothing but problems with the post office for last few years especially last year and the Holidays was the worst in my 22 years selling !! Something needs to be done how can they lose 9 Billion Dollars ? and be inefficient I am not for people losing their jobs but needs chanages !! 

[house*of*paws]

---

@adamcartwright wrote:

Do you really believe what you're saying -- that the people in charge have no inkling or concern for the consequences of cutting less than 2% of employees from the USPS?

I see people complaining here about the USPS service on a daily basis.

Anyone who's ever worked a job knows that eliminating the slackers is a good thing and increases productivity all the way around. 

Of course, we'll have to wait and see, but how does this "sky is falling" mentality benefit anyone? 

---

I absolutely do believe what I'm saying ... but NOT what you say that I'm saying.  [I did NOT say that "the people in charge have no inkling or concern for the consequences of cutting less than 2% of employees from the USPS.  I said "not knowing whether the people in charge have any inkling (or concern) about the consequences of their decisions" . 

There's been ample evidence that the people making the firing decisions aren't particularly knowledgeable of the departments and staff that are being eliminated.  Hence we see air traffic controllers being fired at a time of increased aircraft accidents ... only to be immediately rehired.  [I wasn't talking only about USPS.]

Nor do I see evidence that it's the 'slackers' who are being axed.  It's happening much too quickly for the decisions to be thought through carefully.

But with regard to USPS ... which has been struggling to return to the number and stability of employees that existed pre-COVID ... it hardly seems like the optimal time to reduce staff further.  [It reminds me of a saying that hung on the wall at an old worksite of mine: "The flogging will continue until morale improves."]

That said, I do NOT believe in 'the sky is falling'.  [I do know the difference between reality and fables.]   What I do believe is that capricious decisions are being made, which will have far-reaching consequences.  We will have to watch, wait, and see exactly what they are.  [And I hope everyone actually will observe for themselves what happens ... and not just believe what we're told by 'authorities'.]  

And all of the above is JMHO.  😊

[tarotfindsandmore]

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@house*of*paws wrote:

But with regard to USPS ... which has been struggling to return to the number and stability of employees that existed pre-COVID ... it hardly seems like the optimal time to reduce staff further.  

If this were true, they would need to cut at least three times more than they're planning according to the USPS's own data. They were getting by with tens of thousands fewer bodies and millions more packages from 2020-2023.  The additional 100K or so (I'm assuming the 600k everyone keeps quoting includes everyone from permanent benefitted employees down to brand new subs) bodies are truly just dead weight that should have been let go over a year ago.

https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/employees-since-1926.htm

Keep in mind that Amazon has vastly reduced the percentage of its packages that are being delivered by both UPS and USPS, and is relying more and more on Flex drivers. 

There's no reason the postal system needs anywhere near the number of bodies it currently has on its payroll.  If you have less volume, especially this much less, you can make cuts in every single department from HR to sort. 

Even on the tech side, a few hundred competent IT people could come in and update everything, train the supervisors, HR, and carriers, and then leave behind a few dozen tech bodies in each state to stay on top of updates and maintenance.

[stainlessenginecovers]

The 'effect' is.............there won't be one.

There are over 33000 post offices in the USA; so they will 'retire' 1 person for every 3 offices. Does NOT include carriers (unless they WANT to opt in, but they will be replaced)

[selsa84]

Mail volume has dropped year after year. You saying less bodies with millions more packages is 100% wrong. Maybe less bodies but there was not more packages than the year before or ever 2 years before covid. 

[tarotfindsandmore]

I'm saying the number of packages has dropped substantially since the pandemic restrictions have been lifted and  Amazon is no longer handing off toilet paper to the USPS to deliver. The volume of packages sent to all carriers who were contracted to deliver for Amazon during Covid has dropped enough that the extra bodies that the USPS hired to accommodate Covid volume can go home now. The number of packages moving through the USPS system each day is hundreds of thousands, if not millions, less than what was being processed even 5 years ago, before Covid.  If you look at the data, you'll see 2023 was the peak year for volume for the USPS.  This is also true for UPS and FedEx.  

To give you a clear example, in 2020 I worked for UPS and peak season volume for a twilight shift regularly broke 110k packages.  This past year, 2024 peak season volume for day shift (the busiest shift) was around 60k (my son is still there).  The same thing is happening with USPS.  Amazon hands off very very little of its volume anymore.

Hope that clarifies things a bit.

Also, you are correct that mail (printed media) has also dropped significantly...which is just one more reason to let our less than fully functional USPS employees find other work or take retirement.